Google’s Transportation Network

The NY Times has an the extensive article on the bus network that Google has set up to ferry its workers across the Bay Area to work. The company ferries about a quarter (1,200) of its employees to and from Googleland daily.

The NY Times has an the extensive article on the bus network that Google has set up to ferry its workers across the Bay Area to work. The company ferries about a quarter (1,200) of its employees to and from Googleland daily. The 32 shuttle buses come with leather seats and wireless Internet access; and, the NYT reports, bicycles are allowed on exterior racks, and dogs on forward seats:

One of the biggest challenges facing the Google juggernaut, with a staff that has been doubling every year, is to continue to attract the best. Many technology workers say that the potential benefit from stock options for new hires is limited, since the company’s shares have already surged more than fourfold since its 2004 public offering of $85.

The shuttles may not be able to lift Google’s stock price, but they have struck a chord with employees… Googlers hooked on the convenience of the shuttles say nothing tops their commuting perk.

“They could either charge for the food or cut it altogether,” said Bent Hagemark, a 44-year-old software engineer who boarded a Google shuttle in Cow Hollow, an upscale neighborhood in the north end of San Francisco. “If they cut the shuttle, it would be a disaster.”